Wednesday, January 28, 2009

January 28, 2009

We have had company for the past few days. A good friend from out of town was here and it was so nice to see her. She got stuck with us for a day longer than she had planned, due to an ice storm. We were not complaining, since we have missed her and enjoyed having her with us but I know she had other people she wanted to visit. Today is still very cold but the sun has been shining strong all day so the ice is quickly melting away.

Looks like we are starting another round of colds, although I can't complain too much because it has been a while since we have had anything around here. Nck started showing symptoms last night and woke up today with a runny nose that has not stopped all day. He didn't take a very long nap today and I'm sure that was due to not being able to breathe properly. He also did not want a gummy bear after using the potty and he passed on dinner and chocolate cake. That's when you know your child is really not feeling well, although it is amazing how kids keep going and keep playing, even though they do not feel well. The onset of this cold is perfectly timed for having been obtained at church, either on Sunday or Monday. I will be surprised if all of us do not end up with it, since we all eat and drink after each other quite often.

We seem to have made a break through with potty training, although it is too soon to tell if it will actually take this time or if we will once again regress. Ben continues to do well, although he did wet his pants once today. Nick woke up dry this morning and has stayed dry all day long, so far. I am completely shocked. He is really doing well with it right now, although I'm not sure how his cold will impact our progress. He did not want to go potty when he woke up from his nap and he had already been awake for over an hour and a half when I suggested it. I let them watch an extra 30 minute video, since he is not feeling well and we all kind of needed a little down time today. I convinced him to go to the bathroom by telling him we would not watch another video unless he did. I was shocked to find that he was still dry.

What we have been up to, in addition to visiting with our guest:
We have been doing lots of reading. We received some new (used) books last week and we have enjoyed reading lots of new stories. One of our favorite new storybooks is The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury. We already had several of the books included in this storybook and there is at least one or two stories that I don't feel are appropriate for the boys. However, this book still has some wonderful stories that we have all enjoyed and, so far, we have just touched the surface. We are also enjoying Richard Scary's Best Storybook Ever (or something like that) in addition to several others.

I have started reading to the boys, while they are in bed for nap or night and I am sitting in the recliner in their room. I really enjoy doing this and hope it can become a regular, fun thing for us to enjoy. I just have to remember to get them into bed a bit earlier or we end up not having time.

We have also been doing our "school work". It is pretty funny to call it that but I think it makes them feel like it is important. The other advantage of calling it that is that it distinguishes this time, when we are using our 'special' books, they are expected to follow directions and try to hold pencils correctly, etc., from casual coloring time or art time. Our preschool work basically consists of coloring, cutting, using paste and stickers, folding, tracing and doing mazes. They really enjoy it so that is the important thing this year. Our focus for this year is simply to learn that learning is fun, which comes pretty natural to them:), work on fine motor skills and attention span and our main focus is learning the basics to get to the point of reading (and having fun). So we spend lots of time reading. The boys already know their letters and most of the letter sounds but not all. Ben is already pretty good at telling me what letter/sound a word starts with, when I ask him (sometimes we do this as a kind of game and the boys really enjoy it).

So those are the things we are really working on, although we do not have any real type of schedule of any kind. Some days we do a lot more than others; some days we just do puzzles and play. We always read, usually several times a day. The boys love to be read to and they always ask several times a day so we do this often.

3 comments:

Lea, I'm sorry N has a cold. I will be praying for him and his potty-training. It has snowed and iced here as well. Tomorrow is supposed to be over freezing so we'll see if anything melts. I hope it does. I love you all and will remember you in my prayers. With all my love, Jana

Thanks Miekie. They are both between 3 and 3.5 years old. We are not technically "learning to read" but they are learning the basics while playing with puzzles, a leap frog game on the fridge (or whiteboard, in our case), etc. What they have learned so far has all been through play and reading.

At the rate we are going on the potty training, we may still be working on it when they do eventually learn to read:).

Meet our sons

About Us

I was raised in Oklahoma and, although I have lived in many cities in the U.S., I consider OK home. My husband (aka 'the dad' or 'the husband', since he doesn't want me to use his name) was raised in the Chicago area but Tucson, AZ is home for him. We were married a little later in life but we know that God brought us together and we are very thankful for that. I am now a stay at home wife of my dear husband, mom of our two sweet little boys and soon to be homeschool teacher of my two sons...and I love it!
Our sons were adopted from Russia, so look below if you would like to read more about our adoption process.

Our Adoption Story

The adoption of our beautiful sons from Volgograd Russia was finalized on January 17, 2007. It took around a year from the very beginning of our process to the end. I have tried to include lots of information about our adoption process on this blog, all of the ups and downs we experienced, what to bring and what not to bring, what our trips to Russia were like, etc. If you have any questions for us, please feel free to email me at lea@pisarik.com.